Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear

Folk Duo

Madisen and Ruth Ward began as a mother-and-son folk duo in 2009. The Wards moved from Chicago to Independence, Missouri when Madisen was three, and have been there ever since. They rose to fame with their song “Silent Movies,” which they performed live on the Late Show with David Letterman. They’ve also appeared on the Today Show, CBS News and more

Tyler Enders

Entrepreneur, Made in KC

Tyler Enders is a KC native with a background in finance and a passion for his hometown. Enders, an entrepreneur at heart, took a chance happening with friends Keith Bradley and Thomas McIntyre to create Made in KC. Made in KC began with one artist relationship and soon grew into a 13-artist pop-up shop. The company now features work from more than 200 local artists, designers and makers and operates four retail stores, the Made in KC Café, and the Made in KC Marketplace.

Caitlin Corcoran

Managing Partner of Ça Va

Caitlin Corcoran is a Kansas City native who started as a competitive barista and coffee trainer before entering the bartending industry. She has almost two decades of experience in hospitality. In 2014, Caitlin won the Paris of the Plains Bartending Competition, just before coming on board with Ça Va, a Midwestern French bistro and champagne bar, six months after its opening. Caitlin is a Level II Certified Sommelier, and at Ça Va, Kansas City’s first and only Champagne bar, they have champagne and sparkling wine from every corner of the world.

Billy Brimblecom Jr.

Executive Director, Steps of Faith Foundation

Billy Brimblecom Jr. lost his left leg to Ewing’s Sarcoma in 2005. Still young and active, he needed a prosthesis that would give him full mobility and allow him to continue to play the drums and live an active life. Thanks to friends and family, he was able to raise more than $30,000 for his first prosthetic limb. While Billy’s love for music is strong, his passion to serve other amputees is even stronger. He serves as executive director of the Steps of Faith Foundation, which raises money to help amputees across the country in need of prosthetics to overcome financial challenges and live a life with fewer limitations.

Bo Nelson

Owner, Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters

Bo Nelson grew up working on a farm and helping to manage his family’s business, Family Tree Nursery. His love for plants led him to study Horticulture while playing soccer at Johnson County Community College before going to the University of Missouri Kansas City to study architecture, environmental studies and philosophy. Bo then traveled the world, but felt the call back home, inspired to put his mark on the culture of the city he loves. Bo started Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters in 2011, built upon the idea that communities grow through connections and conversations over great cups of coffee.

Shanita McAfee-Bryant

Executive Chef

Shanita McAfee-Bryant is an executive chef with a knack for southern and modern style cooking. Since winning Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen in 2015, Shanita has started Magnolia’s on the Move, which specializes in contemporary southern cuisine. She is the founding board member of the National Minority Chef’s Summit.

Julia Haile

Jazz Singer

Julia Haile is a soulful voice with quiet charisma. She likes to keep a varied catalog of music by mixing jazz and soul with elements of reggae, rock and funk. Julia believes the musical energy in Kansas City is emulating, “We really cherish what we create and support anyone working hard to visualize their dreams.”

Salvador Perez

KC Royals, 2015 World Series Champion

Salvador "Salvy" Perez is the fan-favorite catcher for the Kansas City Royals. Known for his talent, awards and outspoken personality, Perez is a shining example of how individuals thrive in KC's creative and collaborative culture.

Matt Besler

Sporting KC Athlete

Sporting Kansas City's 2014 and 2016 captain, Matt Besler is an Overland Park, Kansas, native who's been named an MLS All-Star every year since 2013, earned the title of KC Sportsman of the Year and even played in the FIFA World Cup.

Graham Zusi

Katy Guillen & The Girls

Blues Rock Band

Katy Guillen and The Girls is established as an authentic, authoritative rock band. They are known to pack in crowds at blues roadhouses and prominent concert venues alike, supporting major touring acts or headlining festivals and bills of their own. Katy Guillen (center - lead vocal and guitar), Claire Adams (right -bass) and Stephanie Williams (left - drums) formed Katy Guillen and the Girls in 2012.

Leroy Shatto

Owner, Shatto Milk Company

Shatto Milk Company's farm has been in operation since the late 1800's when Minnie and George Winstead purchased and began farming the land. Now, Shatto Milk Company is an award winning small business accredited with product innovations, extraordinary environmental stewardship and sincere community service.

Isabella Emmack

International Model

Isabella was discovered during her freshman year of high school at a basketball game. Now, she is a notable international model, recently named on DAZED's list of Models You Need to Know. Her big debut came after chopping off her tresses in 2015. Since then she has been a signature face for Alexander Wang, Saks Fifth Avenue, Marc Jacobs and Versace.

Sara & Davide Rossi

DeJuan Bonds

Owner, Purple Label Luxury Barber Shop

DeJuan graduated from Ea La Mars Barber College in 1995. In 2010, he opened Purple Label in Overland Park, Kansas. In 1998, DeJuan became the Official Barber of the Kansas City Chiefs. As the in-house Barber from 1998-2010, DeJuan would set up shop every Thursday during the season, and even travel with the team. In 2004, he became Barber to the Royals.

Maiko Kuzunishi

Owner, Decoylab

Maiko is a mompreneur, balancing the role of mom and the role of owning her business. Decoylab is a design studio focused on creating ecofriendly whimsical clocks, home décor and accessories. Products are available internationally through various online retailers.

Shena Wolf

Director, Comics and Acquisitions, Andrews McMeel Universal

Shena was born in Michigan, but has lived many places across the U.S. She originally went to the University of Kansas for chemical engineering, but switched to English and graduated in 2003. She now works with creators on developing comics from concept to publication in newspapers and other platforms.

Whitney Manney

Fashion Designer

Whitney Manney graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2012 with a BFA in Fibers. With a desire to create art in a wearable format, Whitney creates garments and textile designs under her emerging label WHITNEYMANNEY. Whitney’s collections are retailed in stores and showcased in 10 regional shows including solo exhibitions at The Box Gallery & UMKC Gallery of Art, Kansas City Fashion Week, Saint Louis Fashion Week and Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University.

Mica Thomas

Partner & Executive Producer, Quixotic

Mica Thomas has been a Partner and Executive Producer at Quixotic since 2006. At a young age, he became involved with theatrical design, painting and photography, which later helped his decision to further his education in performing arts. Mica has been recognized by peers and the community for his creativity and unique ability to bring a production to life. He has an extensive multidisciplinary background which stems from more than twenty years of experience in production design.

Esther Honig

Radio Journalist

Esther was born in San Francisco, but is proud to now call the Midwest her home. She is a bilingual, freelance radio journalist with KCUR, Kansas City Public Media. Esther has also been recognized for her “Before & After” photo project which went viral on June 24, 2014 and was featured on Buzzfeed, TIME, The Atlantic, and more.

Radkey

Punk/Garage Rock Band

Radkey is a punk band from St. Joseph, Missouri that is made up of three brothers: Dee as lead guitarist and vocalist, Isaiah on bass, and Solomon on drums. Since then Radkey has had a full schedule of national and international performances, including festivals like South by Southwest, Riot Fest, Afropunk and Download Festival (in the U.K.).

Hayley Besheer Santell

Founder & CEO, MADI Apparel

Hayley is the founder and CEO of MADI Apparel - Make a Difference Intimate Apparel, a women's underwear line that donates a pair of undies to a woman in need for every pair sold. Hayley founded the company based on a single statistic: underwear is the most needed and under-donated item of clothing in the U.S.

Cameron Gee

Photographer

Based in the Crossroads Arts District in KC, photographer Cameron Gee explores his craft through both commercial and personal work. Holding his images to a minimal aesthetic in an attempt to slow people down in our fast-paced digital world, Cameron offers a glimpse of a genuine version of his subjects, as opposed to a constructed persona.

Zhou Long

Pulitzer Prize Winning Music Composer

Dr. Zhou is a Pulitzer Prize winning composer, internationally recognized for creating a unique body of music that brings together the aesthetic and musical elements of East and West. Deeply grounded in the entire spectrum of his Chinese heritage, he is a pioneer in transferring the idiomatic sounds and techniques of ancient Chinese musical traditions to modern Western instruments and ensembles. Dr. Zhou is currently Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.

Tyrone Aiken

Chief Artistic Officer, KC Friends of Alvin Ailey

Established in 1984, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey is the official second home of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, based in New York City. Tyrone Aiken is KCFAA’s executive director, a role he has played since 2005. He began as an instructor during the company’s AileyCamp in 1991, and graduated to artistic coordinator in 1995.

Teri Rogers

Former Entrepreneur and Owner, hint Studios

Teri Rogers was the owner and CEO of Hint, an award-winning DEG creative content and experience design studio. Teri led a team of story builders, digital designers, and experience developers to imagine and create inspiring stories worth telling. Her inventive spirit and determined attitude touched the lives of many in Kansas City, and will continue as her legacy lives on.

Stretch

Artist & Entrepreneur

STRETCH is a sculptor, artist, visionary, restaurateur, entrepreneur and television personality. He has participated and appeared in a variety of cable and network television programs including ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” and “Guy’s Big Bite.” Most recently, he filmed a pilot for “Hungry Men at Work,” on the SPIKE channel, and traveled with the Guy Fieri Food Roadshow.

Shaul Jolles

Entrepreneur & Real Estate Developer

With a personal desire and eye for design and innovation, Shaul has focused his entrepreneurial energy into the emerging technology industry by founding various innovative startups and startup incubators around the U.S. His efforts of championing entrepreneurship are covered in various national media outlets and he has received national awards for his unique concepts. He holds a Masters degree in Finance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Shane W. Evans

Artist

Shane W. Evans, the 2012 Coretta Scott King Winner and 2011 NAACP Image Award winning artist, has lent his talents to close to 30 children’s books. His work has brought him recognition from the White House, The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Late Show with David Letterman. His work in children’s book has been vast, ranging from the widely popular Shanna Show series that is now a Disney animated short along with the spinoff Shane’s Kindergarten Countdown to the successful trilogy of African American history Nobody Gonna Turn me round, nominated for an NAACP image award.

Ryan Maybee

Restaurateur and Bartender

Ryan Maybee is a restaurateur with expertise in the fields of wine, spirits and mixology. His creative libations have received national acclaim being featured in top-tier publications including Wine Enthusiast, Food and Wine, The New Yorker, Vogue, GQ, Esquire, Vanity Fair and Bartender Magazine. In 2009, Ryan opened Manifesto, a small, speakeasy-like bar focusing on classically inspired cocktails using all fresh and homemade ingredients. In 2011, Ryan partnered with Chef Howard Hanna to open a restaurant, The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange, named one of Zagat’s Top Restaurants of 2012.

Ron Megee

Playwright/Producer/ Director/Actor

Ron Megee is a playwright, actor, director and theatrical visionary. He has been a forerunner of Kansas City theatre and served as a provocative pied piper, drawing artists and audiences to the community, and his late-night performances.

Rachel Hack Merlo

Google Community Manager

Rachel Hack Merlo serves as a liaison between the many organizations and leaders in Kansas City with an interest in the ultra high-speed Google Fiber project and the rest of the Google Fiber team. She also oversees community affairs efforts in the community for Google.

Peregrine Honig

Artist & Owner of Birdies

Peregrine Honig found her way to Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 17 to attend the Kansas City Art Institute. Her career in art quickly gained speed and landed her the youngest living artist to have work in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of Art. Peregrine’s unique combination of sexuality and pop-culture makes her artwork distinctive and provocative.

Peggy Noland

Fashion Designer

Peggy Noland is a fashion designer based out of Kansas City. Peggy is not afraid to use bright colors, wild textures and hard-to-miss patterns. She is best known for her bold styles, designing pieces for entertainers performing all over the world. In addition to designing, Peggy has given lectures on fashion and runs her own store in Kansas City.

Nick Jenkins

Stylist

Inside the industrial-chic FLOCK - Salon and Gallery is Kansas City stylist Nick Jenkins, a KC transplant who projects his own ebullient personality into each cut. Jenkins’ star is on the rise, with national editorial work in The Knot and other wedding magazines.

Michael Smith

Chef

Michael Smith’s degree from the University of Southern Colorado may have been in psychology, but the culinary arts are where he is most adept. Following college, Smith went to work at Chateau Pyranees in Denver, where he studied and worked under Chef Jean-Pierre Lelievre and, later, Chef George Mavrothalassitis. Moving on to Kansas City, he took over The American Restaurant and while there, Smith won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Midwest, 1999. He owns a trio of restaurants in Kansas City's Crossroads Art District.

Michael Ong

Multimedia Art Director, Hallmark

Originally a native Malaysian, Michael Ong began his career as a motion designer, and eventually became the Creative Director at T2 (now hint). In the 16 years with the company, he worked on numerous award-winning motion graphics, digital special effects and finishing of national and regional commercials, feature films/documentaries and experience design projects. In 2010, Michael took the role of Associate Studio Manager of the Multimedia Studio at Hallmark, leading the team that delivers technologically-driven digital content beyond the traditional ink-on-paper greeting.

Mark Westervelt

Painter

Mark Westervelt is a painter and native of Kansas City, Missouri. He specializes in large canvas pieces as well as small, intricate designs assembled using dried paint chips. As co-founder of The Left Bank, an alternative art gallery established in 1987, Westervelt helped put the Crossroads District on the map as a destination for all things arts and culture.

Laura McKnight

Entrepreneur & Author

Laura is the founder of a media and research firm, launched in 2010. The company, now called Embolden, builds data capture and engagement tools for today's social impact culture, where work, life, community, and wellness have converged. She has also written and published two books.

Laura Jones Wallner

Principal Dancer, Quixotic Fusion

Laura started dancing at the age of six. She trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts and has danced with the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Missouri Contemporary Ballet. In 2008, Laura moved to Kansas City and started working with Quixotic. Laura now dances for Quixotic full time and enjoys choreographing pieces that involve dancers interacting with visual projections.

Jim Leedy

Artist and Visionary

Jim Leedy has been a dynamic force in the international art world and a catalyst for community development in Kansas City for more than four decades. As a Kansas City Arts Institute professor, he spent more than 40 years encouraging students to push boundaries. The accomplishments of the 81-year-old artist have both anticipated and responded to contemporary trends. Jim is considered the “Godfather of the Crossroads” and was a catalyst for the development of the art district. Jim’s work lives on today as a Kansas City legacy of uncompromising vision and remarkable tenacity.

Ian Byrne

Musician & Woodworker

Ian Byrne is the lead singer of The Elders. He was born in County Wicklow, Ireland. Apprenticed as a woodworker, he joined various bands at a young age, learning to play a wide variety of instruments. In 1987, Ian immigrated to the United States, marrying his Kansas City girlfriend, and Fox 4 reporter Kathy Quinn. He started his own woodworking business a few years later, and joined the Elders in 1998. Over the last decade, the Elders have become an international success, touring the world, playing to sold-out crowds. Ian and his wife have one son, Kian, and two daughters, Andreina and Kaitlin.

Howard Hanna

Chef/Owner, The Rieger and Ça Va

Howard began working in restaurants while in high school in Manhattan, Kansas. He has worked and studied around the world in places such as France, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Samoa, New Zealand, California and New York. During his travels he has honed his culinary skills and deepened his understanding of hospitality in the kitchens of five James Beard Award winners, two Food & Wine Best New Chefs, and five Michelin starred restaurants. In December of 2010 Howard finally achieved his dream of opening his own restaurant, The Rieger Hotel Grill and Exchange in Kansas City. In 2014 Howard was named a James Beard Semi Finalist for Best Chef Midwest, and opened Ça Va, a Champagne bar in Kansas City’s renaissance Westport area.

E. Spencer Schubert

Sculptor

E. Spencer Schubert is sculptor who lives in Kansas City, Missouri and works in a studio in the Crossroads Arts and Design District. Schubert has studied and sculpted the figure across the entirety of his art career. His work uses the figure to explore the strengths, weaknesses, tragedies, successes and idiosyncrasies of people.

Chet Duvenci

Tattoo Artist, Mercy Seat Tattoo

Chet Duvenci is a tattoo artist and owner of The Mercy Seat, a tattoo shop located in the Crossroads Arts and Design District. Often referred to as a “dermagraphic illustrator,” rather than just another run-of-the-mill tattooist, Chet specializes in large and extremely detailed pieces.

Chase McAnulty

Clothing Designer & Entrepreneur

Chase is the founder and CEO of the Kansas City-based vintage T-shirt brand Charlie Hustle. The company focuses on vintage sports T-shirts, but often alludes to Chase’s childhood, mixing elements of design and KC hometown culture. The brand gained local prominence from its top-selling T-shirt, the KC Heart design.

Celina Tio

Chef/Owner of The Belfry

Chef Celina Tio has proudly called KC her home since joining The American Restaurant in 2001. Since then, Celina has been collecting accolades and making waves for KC throughout the national culinary scene. After being named Chef of the Year by Chef magazine in 2005 and James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Midwest in 2007, she made national television appearances on both “The Next Iron Chef” and “Top Chef Masters.” In 2009, Celina started her first proprietary restaurant, JULIAN, located in the historic Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri.

Bob Berkebile

Architect

Any list of accomplished, influential environmentalists and preservationists includes Bob Berkebile. Highly regarded by fellow professionals, Bob focuses on improving the quality of life in our society with the integrity and spirit of his firm’s work. Bob has been the recipient of the Heinz Award from the Heinz Family Foundation and is listed among the Top 5 U.S. Individual Role Models for green and sustainable design.

Augie Grasis

Entrepreneur

Named the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner in the Central Midwest Technology category, Augie Grasis is an established entrepreneur known for his savvy business approach and industry-changing ideas. Since founding Handmark in 2000, Augie has played an important role in defining the mobile content industry and changing the way people use their mobile phones. Today, Handmark is a leading developer and distributor of mobile applications and services. In 2013, Grasis sold Handmark to Sprint Corporation. His recent startup FreightorGator (formerly ShipX) is disrupting the freight industry through its role as an online freight exchange.

Arlen Wickstrum

Anthony Magliano

Musician, Composer & Designer

As a musician, composer and an acclaimed graphic and motion designer, Anthony has been dreaming up innovative ideas ever since he was young. One of those ideas, Quixotic Fusion, turned out to be one of the most exhilarating stage shows Kansas City—and the world— has ever seen. Founded by Magliano in 2005, Quixotic is a multi-dimensional entertainment company, fusing elements from aerial acrobatics, dance, fashion, film, music and visual effects to create a unique performance that is impossible to forget.

Brooke Salvaggio

Co-Founder, URBAVORE Urban Farm

Brooke Salvaggio is an organic farmer and food activist in Kansas City, Mo. She is the co-founder of URBAVORE Urban Farm - a thriving organic farmstead in the midst of a city neighborhood that produces gourmet vegetables, specialty fruits and free-range eggs. It is Brooke's passion to feed people in a righteous and ethical manner while setting a precedent for urban sustainability.

Hermon Mehari

Trumpeter & Composer

Hermon received his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance in 2010. He freelances in and out of Kansas City with all types of groups varying in styles. In addition to performing, Hermon dedicates himself to being a serious educator. He has participated in clinics and panels around the country and regularly teaches at music camps during the summers. As a founding member of Diverse, whose eponymous debut album on Seattle-based Origin Records reached the Top 40 on the Jazzweek Radio Charts, Hermon has performed professionally with many notable musicians.

Patrick Ryan

Chef and Owner, Port Fonda

As executive chef/owner of Port Fonda, Patrick Ryan is at the forefront of the culinary revolution in Kansas City, Missouri. He takes a simple, ingredient-focused approach to Mexican street food, melding authentic flavors with a farm-driven Midwestern sensibility. Ryan earned a Bachelor’s degree from the Western State College of Colorado, followed by a culinary degree at Le Cordon Bleu’s Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. He was nominated for a Food & Wine The People’s Best New Chef award in 2013.

Kevin McGinnis

Entrepreneur

Kevin McGinnis is a leading force for the Keystone Innovation District, a major civic initiative intended to help the metro compete in the global economy. Before becoming a chairman with the Keystone Community Corporation, Kevin was vice president of Product Development and Technology for Pinsight Media+, a division of Sprint. In his 20-year career at Sprint, Kevin has performed in a multitude of functions and various stages of new and emerging businesses. This range of experience has established Kevin as a thought leader in the wireless industry.

Christopher Elbow

Chocolatier and Pastry Chef

Christopher Elbow’s Artisan Chocolates have been featured across the nation, from magazines like Oprah, Food & Wine, Fine Cooking and InStyle to syndicated TV programs like Food Network's What Hot, What's Cool. His confectionery creations are available online and at discriminating retailers like CocoaBella Chocolates in San Francisco, Biagio Fine Chocolates in Washington D.C. and Trotters To Go In Chicago.

Nicole Emanuel

Founder & CEO, InterUrban ArtHouse

A painter, mother of two, writer and ”creative placemaker,” Nicole Emanuel began her career in public art and Urban Cultural Planning for Artists’ Live/Work spaces. Her first Bachelor of Arts, in Design & Industry from San Francisco State University in 1985, was followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1995, where she was KCAI valedictorian. She then pursued her Master’s at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where her manuscript “Memoraphilia: a granddaughter’s memoir, the life of Jewish artist and storyteller Liouba Golschmann” won a 2009 Women’s Council grant and 2009 Hadassah–Brandeis Institute Award. Nicole’s paintings and drawings are in numerous corporate and private collections in New York, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas and Missouri.

Neal Sharma

CEO & Principal, DEG

As DEG’s strategic leader, Neal is focused on enabling businesses and organizations to identify smart, objective-led approaches and leverage the power of technology to actualize them. He has been recognized as one of Kansas City’s most accomplished business leaders under the age of 40, by Ingram’s Magazine as one of its “50 Kansans You Should Know,” and by The Kansas City Star as one of the 50 most influential people in technology.

Tom Corbin

Sculptor

Tom Corbin’s sculpture work appears in 22 showrooms and galleries internationally. Individual collectors include Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Danielle Steel and the late Frank Sinatra. Public installation sites include the United Nations, The Kauffman Foundation, the Firefighter’s Memorial, the Children’s Fountain, University of Oregon and Florida State University. In addition to important public and private collections, his work has found its way onto the sets of some major motion pictures, among them True Lies, A Perfect Murder, It’s Complicated and Transformers.

Bill Zahner

CEO/President of A. Zahner Company

L. William Zahner (Bill) and his firm have received numerous honors and awards for their extensive design build work around the world. He is a world-renowned lecturer on the design and use of architectural metal through digital definition and aerospace engineering means and methods.

Jay Tomlinson

Principal, Helix Architecture + Design, Inc

Jay is a founder of Kansas City-based Helix Architecture + Design. His work with visionary clients who, like him, are committed to the continued vitality of the urban core has contributed to the recent $5 billion revitalization of downtown Kansas City, where he has led more than 40 renovation projects, several of them combining LEED-certification criteria with both federal and state historic tax credits. Jay’s design work has been published nationally and recognized with local and regional design awards.

Sean Malto

Professional Skateboarder

Kansas City native Sean Malto is a world class professional skateboarder. At the age of 20, Sean won his first international title as Transworld Rookie of the Year. Two short years later he was named Street League Champion, and in 2013 Sean won the silver medal at the X Games in Brazil.

Alicia Solo

Singer/Songwriter

Alicia Solo is an energetic singer/songwriter known for her in-you-face stage presence. Recently going solo after many years of success with Beautiful Bodies, Alicia doesn't know how to slow down. She released a three-song extended play featuring, "Game," "Fevah" and "Good." In July 2017, she performed in the Red, White and Boom lineup in the Power and Light District. When Solo is not touring or recording, she directs music videos, travels to remote countries like Burma and Bolivia, and spends an unhealthy amount of time with her cat Bashful.

Davyeon Ross

Entrepreneur and Co-Founder of ShotTracker

A native of Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies, Davyeon Ross co-founded ShotTracker, wearable technology that provides elite-level analytics to improve the performance of basketball players and teams. In 2018, The company released an app for fans to track real-time shots sensored through players, the Spalding basketball and the rafters. Before ShotTracker, Davyeon founded Digital Sports Ventures, an interactive technology company with rights to Division I college sports video across seven major conferences.

Jeff Harshbarger

Musician & Composer

Jeff Harshbarger is a full-time jazz musician and prolific composer who has recorded and performed across the globe with artists like Bobby Watson, Allison Miller and Curtis Fuller. Jeff is currently touring with the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey with upcoming shows at The Abby Pub in Chicago, The Blue Note in New York City and the Rochester International Jazz Festival in Rochester, N.Y.

Butch Rigby

Owner, Screenland Theatres

Butch Rigby is the founder and owner of the Screenland Theatres circuit of movie theatres in Kansas City. He has developed historic buildings in and around Kansas City, Mo. From the historic Granada Theatre in downtown Kansas City, Kan., to the restoration of the century old Mid Broadway Building, better known to many as the former “Kenny’s News Room.” Butch is the founder and chairman of Thank You Walt Disney, Inc., dedicated to the preservation of Walt Disney’s first cartoon studio, “Laugh-O-Gram Studio,” located in Kansas City, Mo.

Danny O’Neill

Founder and Bean Baron, The Roasterie

Danny O’Neill is the “Bean Baron” of The Roasterie, inc., a specialty coffee roaster that services espresso bars and coffee houses, fine restaurants, high-end grocers and coffee-lovers all around the world. He started roasting coffee in the basement of his Brookside home in 1993. He founded The Roasterie on three basic premises: to find the best coffees in the world, to roast them the best way known to man and to get them to his customers as fast as humanly possible.

Beth Nybeck

Metal Sculpture Artist

Visionary, artist and sculptor are just a few ways to describe Beth Nybeck, the talented metal sculptor artist creating incredible metal pieces for both public and private sectors around the nation. Graduating from the University of Northern Iowa in 2010, Beth has stayed busy creating her metal masterpieces for places like the John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, Calif.

Laura Jones Wallner

Principal Dancer, Quixotic Fusion

Laura grew up in Hamilton Montana, where she started dancing at the age of 6. When she was 14, her family moved to North Carolina so that she could continue her classical ballet training at the North Carolina School of the Arts. When she graduated from high school, she got a job in Columbia, Missouri dancing for the second company of the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Laura then danced with the Missouri Contemporary Ballet. In 2008, she moved to Kansas City, and that is when she started working with Quixotic. Laura now dances for Quixotic full time and enjoy choreographing pieces that involve dancers interacting with visual projections.

What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation?Kansas City has a wonderful and thriving arts community. It is also very tight-knit, and I think that all of the artists support each other and work together in amazing ways. You can also feel the support from the entire community. Kansas City has high standards for its artists, and we strive every day to meet and exceed those standards. It is a wonderful place to create because the people of this city are constantly showing us appreciation and support, and we couldn't do what we do without this.

When and where are you happiest?I am happiest in two places; up on stage, in full costume and make-up, where I can transform into a totally different person, blowing people's minds... or at home on the couch cuddled up with my husband.

What is your favorite place in Kansas City?
I love to walk around Loose Park, especially in the spring when everything is blooming.

Where's your favorite place outside of Kansas City?
I always have to go home to Montana at least once a year. I miss the mountains, and try to soak in as much of them as I can while I am there.

What's your most treasured personal possession?
I guess I will have to give a cheesy answer, and say that it is my engagement ring, because it came from my best friend who makes me so stinkin happy!

Who's your favorite fictional hero?
I have always been a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables. She, like myself, is a redhead, which she considered a terrible obstacle she had to overcome in life. She also was spunky, imaginative and adventurous, all traits I admire.

Who do you most admire in real-life?
That is a really tough one because there are so many people worth admiring. I admire people who really believe in a cause and work hard for it, even if it seems hopeless. I also admire those who have some kind of physical limitation or disability but who keep positive attitudes and keep pushing forward and working hard to achieve their dreams.